


Combustion

by Ringshadow



Series: Trickster Souls [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012), The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Fake tit judgment, Getting to Know Each Other, Hooray for moodswings, Justin's history, Justin's sweet tooth, M/M, Medical Testing, Metaphysics everywhere, Nick Fury has no time for anyone's shit, Pepper scares Justin, Random OCs - Freeform, Sentinel Senses, Sentinel/Guide, Shit talking, They swear like sailors, They're basically play fighting five year olds, Tony's Empathy, Unexpected spirit animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-18 06:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/876831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ringshadow/pseuds/Ringshadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Justin is coming out of withdrawal, and the more that Justin and Tony talk, the more they realize they don't actually know each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Justin slept heavily, harder than he had in years, and woke up slowly only to immediately drift away in a fugue. He didn’t mind, there wasn’t a rush right now. He was safe, and warm, and in the right place. He was aware of his body, enough to not be concerned about it, knowing he was wrapped around his guide, holding them close possessively. He lay half-awake, focused on the sound of a mechanical hum close to his body, soft and cyclical and offset by a deep double-tap drum beat. The arc reactor, he thought sleepily, and Tony’s heart.

 

His mind was clear and strong, getting stronger, he was a mountain range, unshakeable, unbreakable, and Tony was his sky and stars and moon and sun. This was the most right he’d ever felt in his whole life, right in these few moments, and he wanted to slip and twist and click against the other man like a puzzle piece, lace them together until their metaphysics were a single package, one smoothly running machine.

 

He was quite helpless to do anything but that really, push close and reach out and open wide and Tony shifted against him, and he heard laughter even though he was barely awake.

 

“Justin. Come on, lazyass, stop rubbing the mental equivalent of morning wood against my brain and wake up.”

 

He twitched and woke up all at once, flailing and ending up falling off the bed, sitting on his ass with the blanket tangled around him and blinking owlishly at Tony, who was pointing and laughing at him. “Good morning to you too.” He said, offering a single digit salute.

 

“Apparently.” Tony threw a pillow at him and got him right to the face.

 

“No fair, no glasses, can’t fucking see.” He threw it back. And missed.

 

“Are you normally clingy in the morning?” Tony found said glasses on a bedside table and leaned, offering them up, snickering when Justin basically snatched them and shoved them on.

 

“Hell, I don’t know. I think I was dreaming?” He pushed his glasses up to his forehead to scrub his eyes.

 

Tony snorted and got off the bed, twisting to pop his back, heading to his room to see about getting actual clothes on. “If you’re going to bond with me you should, I dunno, buy me a drink first? Something.”

 

“Wait what.” Justin was still on the floor.

 

“Hopeless.”

 

“Fuck you, Stark.”

* * *

 

 

Most of an hour later, Justin was showered, shaved, dressed, and halfway through a cup of coffee before he blinked and looked at Tony. “I think I owe you an apology.”

 

“So do you always blow hot and cold first thing or is this just, like, a moody thing because of the withdrawal?” Tony wanted to know, pouring himself a second cup. They were sitting in Tony’s workshop, Justin watching Tony work, fascinated by his shop tech.

 

“Disoriented and woke up fast. Didn’t know what was going on.” Justin sighed and buried his uncertainty in his mug. “Sorry I snapped at you.”

 

“Apology accepted. That said, we do need to talk about this.” Tony looked at him. “I guess you’re okay with the concept of us?”

 

“Are you?” Justin wanted to know. “I mean, I’m kind of… compartmentalizing. Right now. We have history and it’s not good but your mind feels like home if that makes a bit of sense. Instinctually, this is satisfying.”

 

“I get what you’re saying.” Tony considered then minimized all his screens. “Until we figure out where we legally are we can’t exactly do our homework around each other, hm.”

 

“Damn. Anti-trust laws are going to be a nightmare.” He huffed.

 

“We’ll work it out. Pepper thinks she’s found a few ways to deal with it, and she’s clever about those things. I have a whole stack of paperwork upstairs I’ve barely gotten up the nerve to look at.”

 

“Let me go through it. I’m used to that kind of jargon.” Justin offered. “This can’t be the first time something like this has happened. There has to be some kind of legal precedent.”

 

“Is this anti-trust though? I don’t make weapons anymore.”

 

“Yeah, but I don’t just make weapons you know, it’s only one division, our other divisions have competing markets.”

 

“Shit.” He huffed and stood. “You work on cars?”

 

“I do.” Justin confirmed, looking up at him. “Why?”

 

“Because we’re going to talk feelings and metaphysics while wrenching.” He reached down and grabbed Justin’s hand, and if their fingers laced, neither mentioned it, and it was probably for the best.

* * *

 

 

The thing was, they didn’t end up talking about feelings or metaphysics. They just ended up… talking, which Justin was almost glad about.

 

They’d quickly discovered that they didn’t really know each other. Not really. For all their professional environment interactions at events, they’d basically verbally slapfought and gone to their respective corners. They were loosely aware of each other’s history, in very broad strokes though it was quickly obvious that Justin knew more about Tony’s history than the other way around.

 

It didn’t seem to matter. With the familiar feel of tools in their hands and an engine coming together in front of them, they both relaxed. Tony found himself fascinated watching Justin’s hands work, turning a piece of a piston in his hands, fingers tickling along the edges with his eyes half closed. Focusing, he realized. Sense of touch. “My machine shop turned it out.”

 

“I was wondering. Interesting alloy choice.” Justin said, stroking his thumb up and down again before setting it down.

 

“So. Machinist?”

 

“Mechanical engineering minor, business major.” Justin nodded in a mellow way. He could feel the pieces between them falling into place again, but it wasn’t startling, just easy, a kind of lazy warmth like sunlight through a window on a cold winter day. “I wasn’t MIT.”

 

“Your parents weren’t in the business.”

 

“No. They’re kind of lower-middle class, I guess. I bought them houses once I started doing well.” He stared off for a moment. “I got into the business because of my senior project. Ultra-light, collapsing tripod for heavy guns with universal mounts. When I walked across the stage a recruiter was waiting on the other side. Seemed like a good idea.”

 

“How the hell did you make CEO, then?” He’s honestly curious, looking at a screen nearby as it lit up, JARVIS easily finding the tripod Justin was talking about. Yeah, Tony’s familiar with it, now that he’s looking at it.

 

“I put all my money in company stock. When the then-company went tits up I was left holding all the cards, largely because no one else wanted them. I had controlling interest by a vast margin. I was twenty-five.” He flipped a spanner through his fingers. “The place was pretty much about to slam its doors. They held a companywide meeting and everyone was scared and the asshole CEOs called me on stage and said well it’s apparently yours, now what. So I grabbed the mic, turned to all these people who thought a layoff was coming and told them get ready to work for the government.”

 

They’d stopped actually working at this point, sitting and leaning on either side of a work table, looking at each other. JARVIS was pulling up information as Justin talked, finding old newspaper articles to match what Justin was talking about.

 

“The company had this shitty little handgun. Just, utter trash. I have one hanging on my wall at home in a shadowbox as a reminder of what not to be.” He snorted, watching Tony’s amused smile then smirking at the screen when said handgun came up. “Yeah, that fucking thing.”

 

“Jesus wept.” Tony said with feeling, staring at it.

 

“You’re telling me. But, the company was sort of working for the government and they were oh so very interested in our near-collapse so I got ahold of the right people and took new gun designs in front of them, that’d I’d been quietly withholding. Corporate magic happened, the doors stayed open, Hammer Advanced Weapons Systems came to be, and we started making the Sentry line.” He paused then pointed at the screens, laughing richly as he got the timing just right and the entire weapons catalog popped up.

 

“A CEO at twenty-five.” Tony smiled and shook his head.

 

“Well what the hell, you were one at what, eighteen?”

 

“Don’t remind me. Stane did a lot of the work.”

 

“That guy was such a dick.” Justin said with feeling. “You know he was talking to me on the side, right? I’ve got records of everything if you want them.”

 

“You know what? I think I’m healthier not knowing.” He shuddered.

 

“Can’t blame you.” He picked up his mug and took a drink of his long-cold coffee, looking at Tony. “You know, I’ve never been as smooth as you. Never had the charisma. But I play the game pretty fuckin’ well.”

 

“Especially given you were drugged to about your eyeballs.”

 

“Blow me.” He made a face, and Tony laughed softly. An oddly comfortable silence followed, during which he realized they’d shifted and two of their hands had networked together again. He stared at this for a moment, then looked at Tony, who blinked. “Okay so I had no idea I’d done that.”

 

“I knew but I wasn’t paying attention.” Tony didn’t move.

 

Justin didn’t either “So. I need to get out of here before I try to blow up your lab for excitement or some shit. Lunch? Ice cream? Beach? Something?”

 

“Yes to all three. I’ll drive.”

* * *

 

 

Justin wanted sushi and considering he’d just lived through over a week of hell, Tony didn’t argue and let Justin direct them to his preferred restaurant.

 

“I’ll buy us lunch. After what you’ve put up with me since the Expo, it’s the least I can do. I owe you a lot.” Justin said as they sat down. Tony only glanced around, he’d been through most of Malibu’s good restaurants and possibly had been in this one, he couldn’t remember.

 

“You don’t owe me anything.” Tony replied. “It hasn’t been easy but, let’s be honest, I never expected it to be easy when I found my Sentinel. I’d been looking for you three decades, I kind of expected trouble.”

 

Justin laughed weakly. “Come to that, I wanted to ask some stuff actually.”

 

“Yeah, of course.” He accepted a menu from a waitress, just getting himself some coffee.

 

Justin asked for tea, considering his words once the waitress had left. “I wanted to ask about your skills. I mean, I’ve got the sensory problems.”

 

“That’s not the only thing you have you know.” Tony pointed out, not looking up from the menu.

 

Justin blinked. “It’s the only thing I’ve experienced.”

 

He went still, slowly looking over the top of the menu then staring. “Fuck. Okay, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re so uninformed but I kind of thought you would have done some research over the years you know? Learned about yourself.”

 

Justin sighed and rubbed one of his temples. “A little? There’s a series of videos online I watched about recovery after the shit I went through and I watched them and it helped me with my spirit animal and acceptance but… beyond that…”

 

“Oh wow. Okay. We’re going to have to work on that no offense.”

 

“None taken.” His voice was begrudging.

 

“Let’s start with you and get into me I guess. How many senses can you zero in on?”

 

Justin shook his head. “All five. I do use them. I guess the best example I can give is, I spend a lot of time on the gunrange, naturally. I can hit a man-sized target in the chest at a thousand yards on iron sights without much difficulty.”

 

Tony dropped the menu and just stared at him before speaking. “That’s what Agent figured. Five sense Alpha sentinel, he said.”

 

“Alpha sentinel.”

 

“There’s graded levels of skills for sentinels. Alpha means you’re at the top of the food chain. So not only do you have the truly impressive personal sensory array…”

 

“I’m not a satellite, Stark.”

 

“…you have adrenal-based reflex reactions.” Tony continued, totally ignoring his protest. “I’m going off lessons from years ago, but back when humans were tribal, you would have been a warrior protecting the tribe, and I would have kept a safe place for you to return to. You protect the people, I protect you.”

 

“I’m a civilian.” Justin muttered, looking up thankfully when the waitress arrived with their drinks and ordering a slightly frightening amount of food.

 

Tony snickered and gave his order, then gestured at Justin. “See, that’s what I mean.  Yes, you’re a civilian and I’m not asking you to join the service or change what you do at all, but your innate blueprint is to fight. Eating an inordinate amount is part of that. Something Alpha and to some degree Beta level sentinels can do is adrenaline rush in crisis situations for speed and strength. Yeah, that’s all humans to some degree but you guys are the master of the art. Eating a lot is part of that.”

 

“I’ve spent basically the last week throwing up profusely.” Justin huffed. “I think I’m allowed to be hungry at this point.”

 

“And you probably weren’t eating enough before this.” Tony challenged. “You’re underweight, Justin.”

 

“I, yeah. I’m thin.” He admitted. “I eat right though. Probably a bit rich even, between Starbucks and good restaurants and my sweet tooth.”

 

“For a normal person, you mean.” Tony had his phone out, then nodded and showed the screen. “Sentinel caloric intake should be at least three thousand, even if at a rest state, well over four if active. Athletic sentinels, pushing six thousand.”

 

Justin sputtered, staring at the display then looking away before giving Tony a narrow look. “Why is this about me again when I wanted to know about you?”

 

“Because this is about us, smart guy.” Tony was rubbing his chin, looking at suggested diets on his phone. “I can’t wait to see you once we get you actually up and running, proper diet and some instruction…”

 

“I’m not a fucking project car.”

 

“No, you’re my sentinel and you’re sick. I’m fixing it.” Tony said with an air of absolute finality.  “I can hook you up with a nutritionist that will get you ironed out. Besides are you telling me you’re arguing being able to eat more ice cream?”

 

He paused, then sighed. “I guess not, you pushy bastard.”

 

“Great.” He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Now you asked me what my end of this is.”

 

“Uh, yeah, way back at the start of this conversation.” Justin muttered, taking a sip of his tea.

 

“Are you always so moody?”

 

He blinked then looked at Tony. “I really don’t know, now that I’m going entirely unmedicated. Why?”

 

“Because I’m an empath.” Tony put his elbows on the table and laced his hands. “Very tightly controlled, I basically hide behind my shields most days. It’s useful at work because I can tell a liar if I decide to use it.”

 

“Then how did Stane get passed you?”

 

“Auracle.” He wove a hand, glaring into his coffee. “Have you taken your meds today, Tony, just looking out for your wellbeing, Tony.”

 

“Fuck, man. I’m sorry.”

 

“He’s dead. Nothing to be sorry about anymore.” He sighed. “In the meantime, if you’re totally off drugs, then I’ll go off them as well.”

 

“You don’t have to do that.” Justin protested.

 

“It wouldn’t be fair, and it wouldn’t be healthy for either of us. We’re both just going to have to armor up and deal with it.”

 

There was a long silence, during which the waitress brought them bowls of soup, and the silence was sustained because Justin attacked the soup like he hadn’t ate in days. Once he’d set the empty bowl aside and offered a sheepish smile, he spoke back up. “What’s it like?”

 

“White noise.” Tony finally said. “It’s too much information, all at once, if I’m in a crowd and not maintaining. It’s literally like standing in the middle of a huge group and everyone’s talking to you at once, but they’re speaking in abstractions.”

 

“That’s actually quite eloquently said.”

 

“Here, give me your hand.” Tony reached out with both hands and caught one of Justin’s between both his own, clasping it between his and closing his eyes.

 

Justin felt Tony leaning in mentally, brush up against his shields and he opened them agreeably, but instead of hiding under his shields like usual, Tony just… looked in.

 

“Intrigued. Uneasy. Getting nervous. Relax, Justin. I can’t read your mind, just your emotions. It’s just me, nothing to be worried about.” Tony muttered. “Hungry.  Cautious. Happy, no. Pleased. Yeah, that’s a better word, but… pensive? About it.” Tony let his hand go, pulling away both physically and mentally and opening his eyes, looking at Justin. “You’re happy about this, but uncertain and scared about it, so you’re pensive. You want to have hope for the future but you have no baseline, and so far everyone who’s reached out to the part of you that’s special did so to hurt it.”

 

“That’s creepy.” Justin decided, staring. “But not any creepier than what I can do I guess. Am I easy to read?”

 

“Yes, or rather, there’s less static. Normal people buffer without thinking about it. I only get what’s loud, surface impressions. That’s normally enough to tell a lie.”

 

“And my shields… help you? Don’t they?” Justin said, sending the theory in on tiptoes.

 

“They can, yes. If we’re open to each other I can hide under your shields.” Tony nodded. “My understanding is, when we bond that will be more or less hardlined in. Combining resources for better structural support, if you will.”

 

He blinked then started laughing, loud and joyous. “I love that we’re talking about metaphysics but we still end up using engineering terms.”

 

“Well, yeah, that’s what we are right? We’ll never be some sappy couple from a Sentinel/Guide RomCom. We’re mouthy loud picky prissy genius engineers and god help the world once we start working together.”

 

“I’ll drink to that.” Justin grinned, picking up his mug and clinking it with Tony’s.

* * *

 

 

“So, tell me something.” Tony said, around the ice cream cone he was starting to eat. “Why do you know the name of the ice cream man? And why does he know you?”

 

“Oh, I come walk this way weekly if I can and get ice cream every time.” Justin turned and waved at the guy on the ice cream counter through the window, who waved back with an ice cream scoop. He’d spent the whole time serving them gently lecturing Justin about drugs because of what had been in the news and had only stopped when Justin had insisted it was bad prescription drugs, and he was totally off them now.

 

“Really? Huh.”

 

“Yeah, I guess it’s kind of my way of decompressing. Some people go to a bar. I walk the Malibu beach and eat ice cream. When I was doped, it was just enough stimulation to follow but not daze out on.” He looked out over the water. They were on a sidewalk following the beach, as they weren’t really dressed to walk on sand.

 

“I’ve come to realize I don’t really know you at all.” Tony hummed thoughtfully and licked ice cream off his hand.

 

“Think about it. Before everything went to hell, all those bastards in suits you associated with regularly. How many of them did you actually know?”

 

“Not many.” He admitted.

 

“Exactly. The circles we travel in are as shallow as a spoon. If we smile enough and can bullshit about expensive clothes and stocks and expensive cars and whatever politics du jour are in order, that’s enough. No one ever gets personal besides ‘Ohhh Kimberly! How is little Tiffany doing in tennis this season?’ “

 

Tony went still and stared at him as he did the voice. “Never do that again. I’ve heard that exact conversation. At least twice.”

 

Justin laughed, about halfway through his two scoops of fudge ripple (“I’m getting rocky road.” “You’re a rocky road, Stark!” “Yeah well you’re a fudge ripple.” “Done.”), turning his face up to the sun. “I guess we’ll have more serious things to discuss, huh?”

 

“Maybe.” He agreed. “We’ll see how this pans out. You’re still willing to go through all the business paperwork?”

 

“Sure. I’m used to it, I should be able to work my way through it all and figure out our options.” Justin paused, tilting his head and leaning toward his hearing. “Someone’s calling your name?”

 

“Huh what?”  Tony looked around, then his face froze in horror when a statuesque blond in a bikini and sarong coverup worked her way up the beach, waving at them.

 

“Wow, I’ve never seen someone so horrified at a pretty woman saying hi.” Justin was staring at him.

 

“She’s a Sentinel.”

 

“What, seriously? Is this one of the ones that was chasing after you?” Justin looked back at her, then lifted his eyebrows as she simply strolled up to them. His coyote showed up from whatever mischief it had been off doing, skipping up on three legs and peering from around him, which made him look down, and he honestly stepped backwards. “What the shit?”

 

“What?” She wanted to know, shooting him a look then simpering. “Hi, Tony, didn’t expect to see you on the beach.”

 

“Yes, well, how often do I do what’s expected?” Tony blustered.

 

Justin was still staring at the poodle standing resolutely next to the woman, gloriously lion cut, wearing a diamond studded collar and pink toenails. And it was hazy around the edges. “Your spirit animal is a poodle.” He said, somehow managing not to laugh. His coyote was not so resolute and collapsed to the ground in a fit.

 

Apparently deciding Justin could not be ignored, she shot him a look then looked at Tony again. “Who’s he?”

 

“Oh. Uh, this is Justin Hammer. He’s my sentinel.” Tony was honestly amazed at how easily the words slipped out and just how comfortable he was with them. “Justin, this is Bethany.” And that said, he took two steps back and ate his ice cream, his crow landing on his shoulder and just waiting to watch the show.

 

“Of course you are.” Justin deadpanned, looking her up and down again.

 

“Wait, Justin Hammer?” She peered at him. “I thought I recognized those ugly-ass Buddy Holly glasses. You’re the one who blew the shit out of the Expo, right? Since when are you a sentinel?”

 

He was ignoring her in favor of staring at the poodle again. “I just can’t get over that. The reflection of your inner self is a poodle. So, what, you used to be pretty good at swim team but now you’re pampered prissy prone to seizures and entirely dependent on your appearance?”

 

Tony had to grin. “Being a bit literal aren’t you?”

 

“Well what does that say about you then?!” She flared, gesturing at the coyote. “Scruffy mangy untrustworthy scavenger pest?”

 

Justin had to pause before he nodded. “No no. That’s accurate, actually.” Tony about choked on his ice cream.

 

“Since when are you even his scene?” She demanded, nodding at Tony.

 

He didn’t even know where the noise came from, it just bubbled up through his chest, a sudden possessive growl, stepping in toward her and narrowing his eyes. “First of all, you daffy bitch, sexuality has nothing to do with the spirit-guide bond. Second of all, we make a hell of a lot more sense than you and he ever would.”

 

She looked appalled, then stepped in and growled right back. Tony was left with an eyebrow up, still eating his ice cream, watching this standoff happen curiously. “If you really think that you can just roll in and take him…”

 

“Okay, seriously, calm the hell down I’m not hitting a girl.” He lifted his cone and got ice cream up her nose in the process, waiting for her to stop flailing and deal with it before he continued. “Second of all, you’re mistaken. I’m not the aggressor here. He is. He found me and basically kidnapped me until I came to my senses.”

 

“True.” Tony agreed.

 

“Wait, but, Tony…” She whined.

 

“I told you no twice already.” His voice went quiet and serious, stepping to lean into Justin and daring to drop his shields, not surprised when he got pulled in under Justin’s instead, feeling his sentinel’s

/happy/possessive/protective/content?/

As that happened. “He’s my Sentinel. The one who woke up as I did. The one whose spirit animal I’ve been seeing the last several years. And you can’t tell me two asshole geniuses whose spirit animals are native American trickster gods doesn’t make sense.”

 

Justin gave him an appreciative look, both watching her turn and flounce off, Justin not even bothering until she was out of earshot to pass judgment. “Those are some of the worst Tupperware tits I’ve ever seen.”

 

“That is an insult to Tupperware. Trust me, I’ve handled a lot of tits in my life and those belong on a cheap porn actress.”

 

“Or a horrible stripper.”

 

“Or that. I’ve had enough beach. Let’s go back to my place and see if we can figure out how this is going to work.”

 

Justin snorted, lacing their hands and turning to walk back up the sidewalk toward Tony’s car. “You mean, so I can figure it out and you can tinker.”

 

“Yes. Exactly.”

 

“How the hell are you even in business?”

 

“I build the things and leave the rest to other people unless necessary. It’s rarely necessary.”

 

“Oh I can see where I’ll be in this relationship. Bitch.”

 

“Jerk.”

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay, JARVIS, you available?” Justin said, setting the paperwork down on the table then grabbing the top sheet and moving his arm in a semicircle, spreading the papers out with it, staring down at them all.

 

“Indeed I am, Mr. Hammer.” JARVIS replied.

 

“Well, I’d like to try to get through this.” Justin picked up his massive Styrofoam cup and took a long slurp. Tony hadn’t gone straight home, instead dragging them through a Whole Foods just to go to some kind of health smoothie counter. Justin wanted to laugh him back out of the building until Tony had cheerfully introduced him to the world of sentinel-oriented calorie boost shakes. He now had a gigantic fruit and frozen yogurt smoothie that was clocking in at over a thousand calories, boosted with protein, calcium, vitamins and somehow still tasting like candy.  “And I’ve noticed that basically every hard surface in this place can turn into a screen, including the windows.”

 

“That is correct.” The windows blacked out and became a massive computer display.

 

“Awesome. Touch screen?”

 

“Or gesture, yes.”

 

“I approve. Now the big question? Can we get digital versions of all these?” He watched, taking another drink and smirking when the digital versions stated propagating across the windows. “Glorious. Can I get some music?”

 

“What are your preferences, Mr. Hammer?”

 

“Hmm, need something upbeat, movable…” He nodded left-right. “Can we do Daft Punk?”

 

“We can, sir, and I shall use that to build a further playlist.” There was a split second pause at that wasn’t immediately in Tony’s playlist preferences, then Daft Punk started up in the overhead and Justin saluted with his cup in the loose direction of where JARVIS’ voice was currently coming from before turning all his focus on the screens in front of him.

 

It took him less than five minutes to work out a set of gestures with JARVIS to communicate what he wanted to do when, and he ended up bringing a barstool over to set his cup on when need be, pointing at the paperwork and pulling them front and center, zooming in and skimming through rapidfire, highlighting clauses and wording and sorting them into piles. Fully half was momentarily dismissed then he started referencing between them.

 

“Any luck on legal precedent? Court cases ruled on, especially with reference to anti-trust laws and copyright protection?”

 

“I have several cases that I believe will be applicable.” JARVIS replied, bringing them up as a sidebar and Justin spun on his toes as he stepped sideways, looking at the court case names. “You are correct, this is far from the first time this has happened, though it might be the first time in a weapons-related industry.”

 

“Shouldn’t matter too much. From what I’m reading the federal government is very good at following all the legal guidelines, it’s the corporations we’ll have to worry about.”

 

“Wow, you’ve been busy.” Pepper Potts said, standing staring at the window display then at Justin, reusable grocery bags in hand.

 

“Well, I think we both knew Tony wasn’t going to do it.” Justin bounced over. “Whatcha got? Tony got us some stuff but…”

 

She stared at him, then shook her head and went to the kitchen. “I said I was coming by and he about talked my ear off about you being underweight and getting more protein in you that isn’t a greasy burger.”

 

“Blasphemy.” He deadpanned, investigating the grocery bags as she set them on the counter, ignoring her swats.

 

“Especially coming from him! It was the first thing he wanted getting back on the ground after his ordeal in Afghanistan. We ended up going to Burger King.” She gave up and crossed her arms, watching Justin dig and come out with Sushi trays. “He said you had it for lunch, but it’s a very good food for sentinels.”

 

“I don’t think I’ll ever argue with sushi.” Justin popped one of the trays open and started eating. “Thanks.” That said, he walked back to the screens, pondering them.

 

“As utterly unprofessional as this is… I’m still mad at you.” She said it off-handedly while putting the groceries away.

 

“Understandable. I fucked up, but I’m not the one that actually almost killed you.”

 

“True. But I’m still mad at you.”

 

“That’s allowed.” He decided, bringing up one of the court cases and reading the abstract.

 

“Find anything?” She looked over at him.

 

“It’s going to be interesting no matter what we do about it.” Justin tapped his chopsticks together, then frowned when a number appeared in a corner of the screen. “What’s that, JARVIS?”

 

“Calorie counter, Mr. Hammer.”

 

“Tell Stark he knows where he can stick it.”

 

“…I shall.” There was a pause. “He’d like you know he’s open to negotiation on the subject.”

 

Justin nearly inhaled a piece of pickled ginger.

 

“Sounds like he’s in a better mood at least.” She stepped out of her heels, walking over to join him. “So, anything you know for certain?”

 

“Well, none of the legal protections kick in until we’re bonded.” Justin sighed. “Once we are bonded, well. It gets interesting. We can actually form a partnership between our companies without running into anti-trust laws. It’s really strange and I definitely want our lawyers as in on it as possible, because I’m leaning toward ‘if it’s too good to be true’ …”

 

“Then it probably is.” She finished. “So, what, you basically buy each other out? Whose board takes over.”

 

He paused, then grinned at her. “I vote for cage match and promote the survivors.”

 

“Ah, I see how this works. You run Bartertown.”

 

“Damn straight I do.” He ate another two bites of sushi and glared at the screen when the calorie count ticked up. “Still, this could be beneficial. Shuffle personnel around and I’ll keep all the weapons divisions under my header so his is still weapons free, and he can do the hard-tech stuff. I imagine he has weapons designers that wouldn’t mind getting back into the craft, and I have some lab people who would probably relish the opportunity to jump to his labs.”

 

She looked at him for a moment. “So, functionally we’d be in a business partnership. Can’t say I ever saw that happening, in my wildest dreams.”

 

“Well, everything I’ve heard and seen suggests you are a formidable business opponent. Which means I’m better off having you on my side.” He lifted an eyebrow at her.

 

Pepper crossed her arms. “This is a bit much to take in, you understand.”

 

“… Yeah I am kind of running in, borrowing half your stuff and expecting you to like it.” Justin admitted. “Trust me I never saw this happening and never intended to intrude. I’m sorry.”

 

“I know you didn’t.” She frowned. “But I never expected you to apologize, either. You don’t seem the type.”

 

“You brought me food. It tends to make me more agreeable to things.” He stopped long enough to empty the sushi tray then plunged on. “Look, that thing with Vanko was an absolutely fucked up situation and was not part of my plan at all. Turns out you can’t bribe someone not to be a lunatic, my bad. And I was trying to shut it down, when you came over, honestly trying…”

 

Pepper stared at him. “You were heavily drugged and struggling not to hit a fugue, weren’t you.”

 

“Yeah. Accurate. I barely felt it when that redhead put my face to the table. I just wanted it all to fucking end at that point. Get somewhere quiet. The fucking lights and crowd were hard enough but add in that, that chaos…”

 

She put up a hand. “Enough. I accept that you didn’t intend for things to turn out as they did, however, I do not forgive you. Not right now anyway. Because I have done a hell of a lot of research on you, and you, of all people, should have known better. A genius and that business savvy on top of it? That shit should never have happened. Even heavily drugged some things are obviously bad ideas, Justin. You’ve been a thorn in Tony’s side for years, damn near got him killed with your antics and now I have to stand by and let you in, and let you walk away with Tony.” Seeing his expression, she could only sigh and smile. “I knew it was only a matter of time you know. I knew he’d find his sentinel eventually.”

 

“I, I’d rather not get between, he and you, I…” Justin babbled out.

 

“Oh, stop. I’m never going to stop being his friend. But I will admit to you, I am glad that I’m not the only one being his support network now.” She fixed him with a stare and was satisfied when he actually squirmed. “Figure it out. He needs you. I’ll call the lawyers tomorrow and get them in on this.” That said, she turned and walked away, stepping back into her shoes and heading down the stairs to Tony’s shop.

 

He stared after her, then sighed and threw away the empty tray before putting his hands on his hips and staring at all the documentation. “Why do I feel like I just narrowly missed an ass whipping?”

 

“Because you did, Mr. Hammer.” JARVIS said peacefully from the ceiling.

 

“Yeah, she could take me.” He decided. “Let’s get this as figured out as we can, citations and everything, so the lawyers give us less crap.”

* * *

 

 

Tony sat for a few moments in his workshop, staring after Pepper and trying to figure out what had just happened. She’d come in like usual and started talking to him about what Justin was doing, and he’d focused and paid attention because this was important after all. They had discussed which lawyers they wanted in on the business end of it and she’d asked him how they were actually doing.  So he’d told her, laughing about what had happened on the beach and pleased when she’d also smiled.

 

Then Pepper had kissed him softly, told him they would always be friends no matter how this turned out, and left.

 

The thing was, he didn’t feel dumped. Was he dumped? It had seemed far too gentle for a break up talk. Or maybe she was just setting up for that, anticipating that he and Justin weren’t going to stay platonic. And considering he’d done some checking into it, and discovered that most platonic bonds were between siblings, maybe she had reason to, well. Brace for impact.

 

“Sir, Agent Coulson has sent you an e-mail. It contains a large collection of photographs of various resolutions. He says he thought you’d be interested.”

 

Tony startled out of his reverie, blinking once then shrugging. “How large of a collection are we talking?”

 

“Eight hundred and fourteen, sir.”

 

“Fucking hell is he aware I can find my own porn?”  Tony gaped. “What the hell are the contents?”

 

“It appears to be Mr. Hammer in Afghanistan, sir.”

 

“Okay, that? That I did not expect.” He pointed a finger in the direction of the screens. “Download them and run them as a slideshow, every three seconds. Any additional information you have would be nice too.”

 

“Agent Coulson gave no additional information.” A progress bar zipped across the screen, then the first photo popped up.

 

Tony sat back and stared. It was Justin, he wasn’t going to argue that, but Justin was in uniform with the soldiers, on the ground. The only difference is he had patches on his upper arms that were his company logo. The photos scrolled, and he ended up with a hand to his mouth because Justin, stupid fucking idiot, was moving with the military, armed and armored, blending in. This clearly wasn’t just a trip in to do weapons demonstration, or a photo shoot.

 

The photos kept coming, the timestamp showing the date changing. Justin socializing, going on patrol. He was clearly spending a lot of time with the grunts, the high ranking people on base almost never turned up in the pictures. On the fourth day by the timestamp, there was blurry grainy photography of the patrol he was with coming under fire, and Justin could be seen leaving cover and joining those he was patrolling with, returning fire with what looked like pinpoint accuracy.

 

Days passed, and at one point what he wore abruptly changed, suddenly more native, headscarf and AK47, hanging out with the Special Forces guys, beard scruff growing in and a tan getting acquired. Now that he thought about it, he remembered something in the press about Justin returning from a long vacation sporting strange tan lines and him blustering it off as a tropical vacation. Clearly that had not been the case.

 

Two weeks, by the timestamps, in Afghanistan, and a bunch of pictures went by of fairly hearty goodbyes then there was an abrupt location change. Iraq. He’d gone from Afghanistan to Iraq.

 

“They called me Ivy League.”

 

Tony about jumped out of his skin, twisting in his seat to look at Justin standing leaning in the doorway of his shop, arms crossed and possibly a vague hint of a smile on his face. The pictures were still scrolling by. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

 

“I was thinking I couldn’t accurately outfit the troops if I didn’t have a good idea of what they were dealing with. So I decided to find out firsthand. Trust me they thought it was a big pain in the ass at first because I was clearly not a soldier, but I adapted.”

 

He pressed a hand to the reactor, gaping at Justin as he walked over. “You, you fucking idiot, you could have been killed.”

 

“Yeah, and they do get killed. Way too often.” Justin’s eyes were on the photos, watching them go by. “So, yeah. Ivy League. Didn’t have endurance for shit but I tried to walk with them as much as I could instead of riding in one of the Humvees. And I was a sharpshooter in school so, that helped. That actually got me some respect.” He paused, looking at Tony. “Will you judge me poorly if I said it was some of the most fun I’d had, my whole life?”

 

“No, I…” He paused, then let out a breath. “You’re a Sentinel. It doesn’t surprise me that you’d enjoy a vacation to a combat zone.”

 

“Don’t get me wrong it scared the shit out of me.  But, it’s like, part of me never wants to do it again, the rest wanted to do it every day.” His eyes were back on the photos. “Heh, those mercenary guys were nice, actually. They were excited to meet me, about half of them were in my tactical gear.”

 

“You’re still an idiot. What if something had happened to you?”

 

Justin considered for a moment, eyes back on the screens. “Then at least I went out doing something good, yeah? I was able to design some good tactical gear because of this, and my company provided troops with things like bottled water, sports drinks, and batteries for a long time after that.”

 

Tony stood and reached out, yanking him in and just holding him tight for a moment. “I’m impressed. I really am. Don’t ever do it again.”

 

“Yeah, you have room to talk, Iron Man.” He returned the hold, enjoying the tickly cascade feeling that rippled between them as he tugged Tony under his shields.

 

“Yes, yes, I’m a raging hypocrite and I don’t care.”

 

“Can we at least sit down for this conversation?” Justin forced himself to let Tony go them grabbed a chair, the pair situating to face each other, mostly lit by the dim glow of Tony’s hologram displays and screens. “Honestly it’s kind of fascinating how we have some similar major points in our lives, but we came about them totally differently and handled them totally differently. We both did time in the sand box, but came out of it with different lessons we took to heart.”

 

“You went in voluntarily as research. Did anyone die?”

 

“No. We were lucky. As far as I know, all the units I got to walk with got home safe. Injuries, but no fatalities.”

 

“You did get in firefights though.”

 

“Damn right we did, and I did what I could.”

 

“Right. I, meanwhile, went over for a weapons demo and damn near got killed by a stolen piece of my own gear. Came out three months later with this,” Tony rattled his fingers on his reactor, “nightmares and some harsh lessons about reality. I gotta ask, man, don’t you worry about the wrong people getting your stuff?”

 

“All the time.” Justin admitted. “But, what the fuck right? The biggest arms dealer is arguably the United States military. They abandon their shit and it ends up in the hands of kids in Africa gunning down entire towns. The world sucks, in a lot of places, and is better in others. I just try to protect our guys. Someone has to and at least I know I’m helping.”

 

Tony stared at him, then smiled. “You’re living vicariously. Aren’t you.”

 

“Yeah, maybe a little? I never really wanted to be a soldier, not generally. I was more attracted to the lone gunman on a horse thing. I think my ideal world is made up of steampunk cowboys.” Justin smiled. “But, yeah, a little. I’m not fighting so I’m going to try to protect who is. The politics suck though.”

 

“No shit.”

 

“It doesn’t bother you does it? That I’m still making weapons and proud of it?”

 

“Nah, man. It bother you that I stopped?”

 

“Fuck no. Your brain seems wasted on it. You should be off building stargates or something.”

 

“On this note!” Tony said brightly, ignoring Justin’s quiet ‘oh god what’ in response. “How do you feel about New York?”

 

“Expensive and uptight but great food selection, why?”

 

“Because I’m building a skyscraper there that’s going to be arc reactor powered and if our companies are having some kind of merger then it seems like you should be in on that.”

 

Justin blinked. “You’re putting a reactor in the middle of New York?”

 

“Manhattan, why, what’s wrong with that?”

 

“You’re going to be a pain in my ass aren’t you?” It really did feel like a question that needed no answer.  “And it won’t technically be a merger. It’ll be a partnership. We’ll have our own company logos and a unified one.”

 

“Ohh, we’ll need to get on that before we even think about going to the press or everyone is going to refer to us as ‘Stammer.’”

 

“Yeah they probably will anyway.” He sighed. “Thanks, by the way. I think today was my first good day since this shit started.”

 

Tony looked at him, then reached out and pulled him into a hug, leaning his forehead on Justin’s shoulder. “Yeah. It was a pretty good day. I hope we have a lot more.”

 

“Well, we finally found each other. “ Justin put his chin on Tony’s shoulder, sighing. “It’s got to get easier right?”

 

“No, no don’t you dare jinx it. We have to talk to lawyers tomorrow.”

 

“Ah fuck. Sorry.”

* * *

 

 

It turned out, the lawyers were incredibly easy to deal with, if extremely awkward.

 

“The simple fact of the matter is, there is years and years of precedent for this.” The lawyer from Tony’s team was saying. Justin’s lawyer was still mostly in shock, even though she’d come in knowing what the situation was. “Much of which you found, Mr. Hammer, and your analysis is correct from where I’m standing.”

 

“But it is contingent on a lot of paperwork which simply does not exist yet.” Justin’s lawyer said. “Frankly, we’ll need certifications that you two are a bonded Sentinel-Guide pair, and we don’t even have paperwork that you’re a sentinel, sir.”

 

“Yeah, I know. I don’t know how the hell to fix it either. Guess I should look into it.” Justin sighed.

 

“The trouble is going to be explaining how you weren’t noted as one. This is not a small thing, Mr. Hammer. It’s… kind of a big deal.”

 

“Well, luckily, I know a guy who can help us with that.” Tony said, resigned. “He’s just not very fun to owe.”

 

“Agent?”  Justin guessed.

 

“Yeah. He makes me actually do work.”

 

“Wait, an agent of whom?” Justin’s lawyer wanted to know.

* * *

 

 

“There has to be standardized facilities for this.” Justin remarked. They’d hitched a ride on a quinjet, and he’d more or less talked Tony’s ear off for five minutes demanding to know what that was and why he’d never seen one before. Tony had given up and told him it was only going to get weirder.

 

“Yeah, but then we’d spend days wading through red tape.” Tony replied. “Trust me. These guys make things happen. I may not like it most times but this will make things go much faster.”

 

“Please tell me we’re not going to Area 51.”

 

“Area 51 is boring. Not many surprises.” Phil deadpanned.

 

“Thanks again for the ride, by the way.” Tony told him.

 

“Not a problem, it’s just lucky the carrier was nearby.”

 

“Carrier?” Justin wanted to know. “So these are carrier based?”

 

“Mr. Hammer, today you’re going to be told ‘you don’t need to know’ quite a bit. I suggest you get used to it.”

 

“Well, shit, where’s the fun in that?”

 

Tony snickered.

 

“You know, if you two had bonded already we could test that as well.” Phil pointed out.

 

“Stop harassing the new lovebirds, sir.” Clint said, from the pilot’s chair. “We’re on approach, you’ll probably want to see this, Justin.”

 

Justin stood and moved to look out the cockpit glass over Clint’s shoulder. “On approach to what, I don’t see how oh my dear sweet fuck how in the hell is that thing airborne.”

 

“I’m sure the director will be just thrilled I’m here, since I’m not part of his super-secret boy band.” Tony remarked.

 

“Keeping you stable is on our superhero maintenance list.”

 

“Oh shit, can I see this list? What maintenance does Captain America need? Do you volunteer to polish him?”

 

Justin looked over his shoulder at Tony and Phil, then leaned to talk to Clint, speaking just over the engine noise as the quinjet was maneuvered in. “Are they always like this?”

 

“No, sometimes they fight.” Clint replied.

 

“Oh. You know, I’m increasingly getting the idea that I’m stepping right into the deepend. He told me today he’s planning on putting a reactor in the middle of New York.”

 

“You can handle it. He wouldn’t be your guide if you couldn’t.”

 

“How’d you end up with Phil, anyway?”

 

“He chased me halfway around the world then shot me in the leg so I’d sit still long enough to carry on a conversation.”

 

Justin stared at him. “I honestly can’t tell if you’re yanking my chain.”

 

Clint snickered.

* * *

 

 

“Now I’m glad I got in a suit to talk to the lawyers.” Justin turned in a circle, looking around as he did.

 

“You look like a tourist.” Tony said.

 

“How are you so unimpressed? Have you been here before?”

 

“No, but a lot of my tech went into it and I still have better toys.”

 

“How is your spirit animal a crow when you are such a wet blanket.”

 

“You are more than excited enough for both of us.”

 

“Oh look, the two biggest pains in my ass outside Clint Barton and Wade Wilson.” Fury’s voice arrived before he did. Justin and Tony were still in the hangar of the carrier, and Fury strode in, leading edges of his coat picking up as he moved.

 

“I have competition.” Clint quirked an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah, apparently, step it up Cupid.” Tony snorted. “Thank you for the resounding support, Director. And the favor at the awards ceremony.”

 

“In that particular case, I was only too glad to set something up.” Fury turned to Justin, who had no idea what to do with himself and defaulted to saluting. “Hammer. Can’t say I ever thought I’d have the dubious pleasure of having you aboard my boat.”

 

“Can’t say I know how I’m a pain in the ass if I’ve never met you before.” Justin countered, dropping his hand.

 

“Listen, Ivy League, just because you don’t see us does not mean we don’t see you. And after the clusterfuck with Ivan Vanko, I’ve had my eye on you.”

 

Justin blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah I guess I can see where…”

 

“You guess.” Fury repeated. “You guess? What, you guess that causing a situation that ended blowing the hell out of the Expo was a great plan?”

 

“Well, no and it wasn’t exactly the plan in the first place.” He sputtered. “Getting chewed out is a lot less fun when I’m sober.” He muttered this.

 

That actually made Fury laugh. “Look, you know you’re a fuckup, I know you’re a fuckup, and I’d really prefer you get moved from liability to asset. To do that, we need to have an idea of what you can do since you’ve been holding out on everyone.”

 

“That is why I’m here. Nothing too invasive, I hope?”

 

That just seemed to amuse him, and he directed his gaze to Coulson. “Take them down to medical and get him set up.”

 

“Yes sir.”

* * *

 

 

Medical on the SHIELD helicarrier was set up to test sentinels, as it did come up from time to time. After all, an organization that was basically recruited from the best and brightest of various military and intelligence organizations would, in the end, have quite a few sentinels and guides on hand and they liked to verify skill level.

 

Of course, Justin had never been tested before, and that got the entire medic crew to come over. Justin ended up out of his suit and into SHIELD issued pants and a tank top, being put through some basic checks as one of the doctors asked a battery of questions.  Tony ended up sitting on a counter watching it all happen, watching the horror of the medics as Justin explained in as few words as possible that he’d been sent for reprogramming and he’d been on medicine for years.

 

Having no baseline, they started asking for examples of his senses and made notes. Justin could tell wines by blind taste test, could shoot a target at a thousand yards, could hear dog whistles, could link senses together and tell alloys if he got his hands on them.  It was enough to give them starting points for the standardized testing. Sentinel sense tests had been standardized for years and Justin whipped through all five in under an hour.

 

“Interesting situation with your vision but not the first time I’ve seen it.” One of the doctors remarked, looking at the reports they’d gotten as they stepped back into the room. Tony had been left behind, as they didn’t want his presence somehow throwing the tests.

 

“How’d it go?” Tony wanted to know, curious.

 

“Pretty well apparently. When I lean on my vision I have to put my glasses on top of my head.” Justin shrugged. His glasses were only useful when his eyes were at a ‘resting’ state. “And hey, I didn’t zone out, so I’m proud of myself. What’s next?”

 

“Second half of the test is adrenal reaction testing.” The doctor replied. “We strap some monitors on you for heart rate and breathing rate then try to key you up.”

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever done that. I wasn’t even aware I could do it until Tony told me, and that was yesterday.”

 

That brought a moment of quiet into the room, then one of the other medics spoke up. “You play any sports?”

 

“Yeah, I play racquetball. Tennis is boring.” Justin blinked. “I don’t get how this is useful?”

 

“Sentinels are restricted from the Olympics, and professional sports, because they have unfair advantages.” The medic replied, getting monitors out of a box, buckling one onto one of Justin’s wrists then having Justin pull his shirt up to wrap another monitor around his ribs, adjusting it and turning them on. “You’ll likely adrenaline rush while playing, we’ll be able to see that and prove it out.”

 

“Huh. Wait, you guys have a racquetball court on board?” He’s stunned.

 

“Actually, yes we do. You should come too, Mr. Stark.”

* * *

 

 

The helicarrier was spacious, and had a good-sized on one level. There was a track circling the machines, and small rooms tucked in the back, for basketball and racquetball. When the medics showed up, with Tony and Justin in tow, there were two players on the racquetball court, who curiously stopped their game when they saw the medics through the glass, stepping out and listening to what they wanted to do. One of the players, an Agent Martinez, cheerfully agreed to play with Justin, Martinez’ partner loaning out his racquet for the purpose of the bout.

 

“You got some better eyewear?” Martinez wanted to know, eying Justin, still in business shoes and borrowed clothes.

 

“I’ll be okay, thanks for the concern though.” Justin took his glasses off and handed them to Tony, smiling a bit and stepping onto the court.

 

Tony and the medics copped a bench from the weights area and sat down to watch, and what happened was nothing short of a beatdown. Tony didn’t know a damn thing about racquetball, let alone how it was scored, but it was still pretty obvious that the first few points got past Justin quickly. He seemed to be getting settled in, used to a stranger’s racquet and the new court. During a pause, Tony could hear Justin remarking to Martinez about the omnipresent sounds of the carrier.

 

Then something changed, because Martinez didn’t get another shot past Justin. Justin seemed to know exactly where the ball was going to be, and was able to respond to it very quickly, making shots that by all accounts seemed impossible, given the speed the ball was slamming around.

 

“Holy shit.” Was all Tony could say as Justin skidded by on his dress shoes and neatly hit the ball, sending it colliding and another point sailing by Martinez. “He’s running the other guy ragged and he’s barely breaking a sweat.”

 

“Heart rate and breathing rate are elevated, but not as much as you’d figure, which figures with Alpha sentinels. Enlarged heart and often lungs.” The medic showed Tony the tablet he was holding, which was getting charting from the monitors that Justin was wearing. “Which, yeah, an enlarged heart on you or me is a problem. On him? He’s set up to go for ages.”

 

It was during this exchange that the game stopped and Martinez came out, stripping his shirt off and waving it over his head. “I’m done. I give. I surrender.”

 

“That was fun.” Justin came out grinning, stretching his arms above his head, eyes bright and pupils wide. “I’m fucking starving now though.”

 

“I told you that you haven’t been eating right.” Tony snorted, watching the medics take the monitors off and passing his glasses back.

 

Justin put his glasses on, brow drawing a bit then staring off, gaze flitting around like he was following something flying then turning his head to stare off in another direction. “What the hell is that?”

 

“What’s what?” The medic wanted to know.  

 

“You can’t hear that?”

 

“Hear what, Mr. Hammer?” Fury wanted to know, striding across the gym and looking at the medics expectantly.

 

“I’m comfortable calling him a five-sense alpha sentinel.” The medic with the monitors said.

 

“Great, thank you, if you could make sure the proper paperwork gets filed promptly it would be appreciated.” Fury looked back toward Justin, who had the expression of someone trying to find a passing mosquito. “Now. Hear what?”

 

“Something breaking, I think. It’s a vibration. Might be a pump bearing going?” Justin was frowning. “It’s too far away for me to know for sure.”

 

“Well then by all means, feel free to find it.”

 

Justin blinked then looked back at Fury. “I have no idea what my authorization level is here. I’ve got good security clearance with DoD but…”

 

“I assure you, no one’s going to tell me not to let you in somewhere. Now…” Fury swept his arm in a lead-the-way gesture, and Justin started walking, passing the racquet back to its owner and accepting a water bottle in return.

 

Justin had to wander the ship, a bit, Tony and Fury trailing him (along with one of the medics) as he tried to track the source of the noise. He had to double back a few times, and jump between levels, looking more and more consternated. Along the way, Phil rejoined them, canting his head just a touch then just following along.

 

“What gets me is I’m the one hearing it and I don’t even work on this thing. Don’t you have people that do this?” Justin wanted to know, walking with a hand sliding on the wall, eyes half closed, feeling the vibration of the craft.

 

“Yes, we do. But you know what they say about a fresh perspective.” Phil replied. “And they aren’t engineers. You are.”

 

He arrived in front of an access door and pressed an ear into it. “Can we get in here?”

 

Fury carded the door and let them in, where a rattling became audible to everybody. Justin ended up crouched next to a waterpump that was pinging as it cycled, looking up at everyone else. “Well, at least I know I’m not crazy.”

 

“Yeah, that’s burning up. Bad bearings.” Tony said, frowning at it. “Might want to call your maintenance guys.”

 

Fury looked at it, and shrugged. “Okay. We’ll be sending you home with some literature, Hammer.”

 

“Literature? What are you, a Mormon?”

 

“No, just some light reading for your trip home.”

* * *

 

 

“Light reading.” Justin said, staring at the tablet he was holding which had hundreds of pages of study material and lessons. “Does he think he’s funny?”

 

“No, he thinks he’s hilarious.” Tony walked over, sitting next to Justin at the table and handing him a coffeemug. “How are you feeling?”

 

He picked up his mug, and smiled. “Actually? I feel good.” He dug out his wallet and looked at the ID Phil had pressed into his hand as he’d thrown them off the quinjet. He hadn’t been expecting to get a new driver’s license but that was apparently within SHIELD’s power, and it was entirely identical to his old one except for the little notice in the corner next to his ‘corrective lenses’ note. Sentinel.

 

“Good.” Tony got his out and put them side by side, showing the notes together and leaning on Justin’s shoulder. “Good.”


End file.
